On March 3rd - Home Depot opens it's doors on Route 111 (right behind Oxford/United Healthcare) just up from Route 25. It seems like 10 years since that parcel of land had some activity on it. As a previous employee of Oxford - I used to drive by the property daily on my way to and from work and always wondered what would make this home. It sits very high up from Route 111 with a very grand stone lined driveway which was the last thing I remember being done.
There were early rumors I believe that there was some residential condos going up and I think it's been years in the making of getting this approved for Home Depot. The day finally arrived and of course my husband and I just happened to need a few things. Normally we would make our trip to the Bridgeport Home Depot but this one is now located so close, we figured we need to check it out.
I guess everyone else in Trumbull, Monroe and other towns felt the same way, as cars were coming and going and the store was full of people. They were offering complimentary lunch and even had a few things going on inside to entertain kids - like a glass enclosure where the kids would enter one at a time and try to catch the papers flying around. It was impossible to catch anything as the machine made it so that the papers were flying too fast to catch - it was fun to see the kids trying their best - most unsuccessful.
Shopping carts seemed to be in short demand so that says that people were out to buy, as my husband said - "it's not like they're just coming out to see the store - everyone has been in a Home Depot - they know what to expect." Of course, he is right - people came to make purchases and the staff was everywhere asking if they could help you. That is one thing I have always liked and been aware of when shopping in a Home Depot - whenever you come upon staff wandering the aisles - they always ask if they can help you find something----I really like that. For a long time - for some reason - customer service seemed like it was a thing of the past. I do notice staff usually no matter what store I shop in - people are much more willing to assist. Thank goodness the powers to be realized this and made changes for the good.
Lastly - I wonder how the nice new Home Depot will once again affect so many local small businesses in town (Trumbull and Monroe in particular) - like garden centers along this route and yes some small hardware stores. Yes, Home Depot brings in so many new jobs but on the downside - unfortunately it also may hurt so many of these smaller businesses just trying to survive in this economy. Hopefully both big and small businesses will be able to survive and participate in a piece of the sales.
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